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Neurosciences Seminars & Events

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Neurosciences Gateway

The University of Utah’s top-rated physicians and researchers are at the forefront
of neuroscience: pioneering treatments in health care, breaking ground in imaging
techniques, designing new solutions for brain and spinal cord repair, and more. The
Neurosciences Gateway is a portal to discovering more about the U of U’s neuroscience
expertise, distributed among many departments, centers, and institutes.

Launched in Fall, 2014, the Neuroscience Initiative unites the academic, translational, and clinical neuroscience communities toward
the common goals of better understanding the brain in disease and in health. Learn more.

Upcoming Neuroscience Initiative Events:

Allen Brain Institute Workshop @ Snowbird (October 31, 2015): Do you use, or would
you like to use, the Allen Brain Atlases? In order to make our workshop as relevant as possible, we are seeking your input.
Please email parker.becca@utah.edu a sample or two of a question or problem you might be interested in addressing with
the Allen Brain Atlases. Find out more about the atlases at http://www.brain-map.org/.

Funding Opportunities:

NINDS R35 Program. This program is designed "to provide longer-term support and increased flexibility
to investigators whose outstanding records of research achievement demonstrate their
ability to make major contributions to neuroscience.RPAs will support the overall
research programs of NINDS-funded investigators for up to 8 years, at a maximum level
of $750,000 direct costs per year.This greater funding stability will provide investigators
increased freedom to embark upon research that breaks new ground or extends previous
discoveries in new directions." See the RFA at http://grants.nih.gov/gr…/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-16-001.html. Learn more about this exciting program from this blog post.

Faculty Research Awards Calendar. Never miss another neuroscience research award opportunity! Download the handy Faculty
Awards calendar, released by the Office of the Vice President for Research, here.

Congratulations to the Neuroscience Initiative Collaborative Pilot Project Awardees!
The Neuroscience Initiative Scientific Advisory Board is delighted to announce the
awardees of the 2015 Neuroscience Initiative Collaborative Pilot Project Grant program,
which aims to catalyze collaborations, stimulate innovation, and move us towards our
vision of better understanding the brain in disease and health. The six projects below,
representing 12 departments from 4 schools and colleges, were selected for up to $50,000
in funding each. Our next Request for Proposals will be released in 2016 - we strongly
encourage neuroscience faculty at the University to apply.

The Utah Biomedical Image and Data Analysis and Visualization Center (BIDAC): The BIDAC provides limited funding to 2-4 projects annually to cover pilot project
expenses necessary for applying for new federal grants. Applications will be accepted
beginning July 1, 2015. For more details, see the BIDAC website.

Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists. This award provides $250,000 for young scientiests in Life Sciences, Physical Science
& Engineering, or Chemistry. The internal submission deadline is August 17; more detailsat https://utah.infoready4.com/

University of Utah Seed Grant Program. Up to $35,000 is available through the VP for Research Office to suport preliminary
research designed to lead to future extramural funding. The next deadline for submission
is August 20. See more details here.

Faculty Research & Creative Grants. Up to $6,000 is available through the VP for Research Office to support scholarly
and creative projects in areas where other funding may not be available. The next
deadline for submssion is August 20. See more details here.

Instrumentation Funding for Individuals and Cores. Awards typically $30,000 - $100,000 are available through the VP for Research Office
to support new, replacement, or upgraded research instruments. The next deadline for
submission is September 15. See more details here.

Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Awards. $10,000 awards are given in recognition of lifelong accomplishments of faculty who
have made significant scholarly contributions to their field. Nominations are due
October 15. See more details here.

Faculty Fellow Awards. These awards provide $7,500 to departments in order to buy release time for faculty
to pursue research and creative projects. Applications are due October 16. More details are available here.

Engine Funding Program. Awards typically around $30,000 are avaialble to provide faculty inventors with business
guidance and assistance moving discoveries towards commercialization. Opportunities
to submit open approximately every two months. Find more details here.

Community-Based Research Grants. $10,000-$20,000 is avaialble through the VP for Research Office to fund collaborative
research mutually beneficial to the University and a community partner. The next submission
deadline is February 15. See more details here.

Travel Grants. $1,000 awards are available on a rolling basis for faculty to meet with DOD or DARPA
program managers. Apply through the VP for Research Office.

The Utah Parkinson Disease Registry (UPDR.org) was launched in May in an effort to understand an apparent rise in PD by 30 percent
over the last ten years in Utah, and to uncover causes of the disease. Effective March
12, 2015, the Utah State Board of Health requires that health care providers report
cases of PD and related movement disorders. Because Utah has one of the highest rates
of PD in the nation, it is uniquely poised to contribute toward a new understanding
of the disease. UPDR is the first registry of its kind in the nation. READ MORE

Not every mom and dad agree on how their offspring should behave. But in genetics
as in life, parenting is about knowing when your voice needs to be heard, and the
best ways of doing so. Typically, compromise reigns, and one copy of each gene is
inherited from each parent so that the two contribute equally to the traits who make
us who we are. Occasionally, a mechanism called genomic imprinting, first described
30 years ago, allows just one parent to be heard by completely silencing the other.

Now, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine report on a version
of genetic parental control in mice that is more targeted, and subtle than canonical
imprinting. Published in Cell Reports, so-called noncanonical imprinting is particularly prevalent in the brain, and skews
the genetic message in subpopulations of cells so that mom, or dad, has a stronger
say. The mechanism can influence offspring behavior, and because it is observed more
frequently than classic imprinting, appears to be preferred.

“The field has traditionally thought of genetics at the level of the whole animal,
and sometimes the tissue. We’re documenting it at the cellular level,” says senior
author Christopher Gregg, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy. “Genetics is much more complicated
than we thought. READ MORE